SHAHEEN BILL PROMOTES FOREST CONSERVATION

Legislation rewards small landowners for carbon reduction

August 05, 2009

(Washington, D.C.) - U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen has
introduced the Forest Carbon Incentives Program Act of 2009 (S. 1576), which
will provide incentives for small forest landowners to adopt forest management
practices that will increase the land's capacity to store more carbon. The
legislation calls for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to manage the
program and create guidelines that would help landowners maximize the value of
their land through carbon storage and conservation.

"As we build a clean energy economy, we must create
incentives for small landowners to adopt practices that will lead to greater
carbon storage," said Shaheen. "The Forest Carbon Incentives Program can be
implemented quickly so that landowners in New Hampshire and nationwide can get
a return on their land and the forests that they maintain during this economic
downturn."

"The New Hampshire Timberland
Owners Association is supportive of the Forest Carbon Incentives Program Act,"
said Jasen Stock, executive director of the NHTOA. "We especially like the
voluntary market-based approach to this and the fact that is creates incentives
for active, sustainable forest management. This is good for New Hampshire's
forest community and travel and tourism industries."

"Senator Shaheen's legislation will ensure that
we fully tap the climate change mitigation benefits of U.S. forests," said
Tom Martin, president and CEO of the American Forest Foundation, a non-profit
family forest conservation organization. "This bipartisan legislation will give
small family forest owners, who own over one-quarter of the nation's private
forests, a chance to help solve our climate change problems and at the same
time help keep these families on the land and keep their forests working."

"We
cannot successfully meet the climate challenge without tapping the remarkable
potential for America's forests to absorb one-fifth of our carbon emissions,"
said Jad Daley, climate director for The Trust for Public Land. "Senator
Shaheen's innovative proposal would provide an essential tool to meet this
goal."

The bill calls for a Forest
Carbon Incentives Program to be established under the USDA to provide
supplemental incentives for carbon reductions through U.S. private
forests. These incentives would provide an opportunity for forest
landowners to adopt management practices that deliver proven emissions
reductions, and be compensated for storing carbon. In addition to helping
landowners maximize the value of their forests, the bill creates opportunities
for landowners to gain further financial incentives by entering into permanent
conservation easements.

Today, U.S. forests sequester 10
percent of annual U.S. carbon emissions. The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency estimates that we can double this capacity, sequester up to
20 percent of annual U.S. emissions, if the proper incentives and systems are
in place. Though there is climate legislation that targets larger-scale
land owners through a carbon offsets program, this bill targets approximately
25 percent of the private forest owners who would not qualify for other
proposed programs.